Nearly a Woman
by biddaboo147
Summary: Rin is now sixteen and is having trouble convincing eveyrone that she is a young woman. Sesshomaru is confused about his feelings for Rin, now that she has grown up. Jaken is the usual tag-along he's always been. Rated M for later Lemons. SesshyRin!
1. The Girl of Sixteen

_A/N: This is my first fan fiction ever so I'd appreciate feedback. Also, the first few chapters may be on the boring side since I'm explaining much of what's been going on from when Rin was a child to now. And I don't own Inuyasha. Thank you._

_It was a Sunday morning, and I woke up a bit groggy from sleep. I looked outside the window of the Inn to see that I was alone. I sighed, though it was expected. Of course they would set off somewhere without me in attempt to ditch me in a human village. Lord Sesshomaru and Jaken have always told me I'd be better off in a village (or in other words they'd be better off without me). I wasn't concerned though, they wouldn't be long. They always came back for me. He always came back…_

_I decided on being old fashion by bathing in the river banks that morning instead of using the inn's bathing house. The river was cold, but warm enough where I could last without catching a cold. I stripped out of my kimono and first dipped a toe in. I shivered, held my breath, and quickly went under. After washing thoroughly, I dried off and pulled my kimono back on. Next task was to fish something for breakfast. Traveling all the time meant we had to camp out a lot. I have been fending for myself in the food department for many years, since Jaken and Lord Sesshomaru don't eat human food. Because of all my experience, I've learned to cook decent fish over a fire. _

_I sat patiently, waiting with a net in the water, hoping some fish would be dumb enough to swim right into my trap._

"_Yes. This is a nice sized fish. I guess I'm having a good breakfast this morning." I said to myself._

_As I turned around to chop it's head off and skin it, I heard a rustle in the bushes. I looked towards the sound and saw nothing._

"_Hello?" I asked. No answer. "I ask if there is someone there, that you show yourself." I said sternly, reaching for the small blade at my hip. I had bought it at a small weaponry a couple villages back, hoping I would be able to use it to defend myself instead of depending on Jaken or Lord Sesshomaru. Though I didn't have much practice with it, it still might help._

_I stood up, and backed up a bit, leaving space for whatever demon/human was beyond the trees._

"_Rin, where did you get such a dangerous weapon?" Asked Sesshomaru stepping out of the brush._

"_Oh Lord Sesshomaru, it's you!" I said surprised. I quickly returned the blade to it's pocket at my hip._

"_You're just a young girl, you shouldn't go around carrying something like that. As long as you have Milord and I, you have not use for that!" Squawked Jaken, who followed right behind Sesshomaru._

"_It….was a gift." I lied. I didn't want it to be taken away. I hate being useless. "I can't bear to part with it." I said, making the lie more believable._

_Sesshomaru just stared, without a word, while Jaken yelled and hopped up and down, scolding me for carrying it._

"_Rin, Jaken is right, you are too young." He finally said. He started turning around as if it was the end of the discussion, but I wasn't finished._

"_But Lord Sesshomaru, I'm not too young! You do realize I'm sixteen years old now. I'd say I'm much too old to not know how to defend myself. It's unfair." I complained, though it sounded foolish and childish, I did make a point._

_He stood with his back to me, but then started strolling away. Instead of scolding me more, Jaken explained our plans of moving North to another village since there had been reports of demons terrorizing civilians._

_Since Naraku had been defeated, Sesshomaru had nothing better to do but to save humans. He claimed to not have any sympathy towards them, and though he appears cold, there is something about him that has changed. He's softened up, much like his younger brother Inuyasha. Though I'm not brave enough to say that out loud, and he would never admit to that._

"_Jaken." I said after a couple hours of walking. I started slowing down so I could talk to him privately, though I knew Sesshomaru would be listening in anyways because of his heightened demon senses, it still felt more private when I whispered._

"_Rin?"_

"_About Lord Sesshomaru. He's seemed a little distant. More than usual. Do you think he's ill?" I asked, concerned. Though I know demons don't get sick, I need to put up and innocent act for Jaken, since he hasn't quite grasped the concept of me being a woman._

"_Rin, that's despicable! Lord Sesshomaru would never be fazed by something as minor as an illness. You underestimate him." He said, snorting and rolling his eyes._

_I rolled my eyes as well, only for another reason. "But doesn't he seem different? Maybe it's just me. He might be mad…" I started babbling to myself, debating whether or not I should be concerned, Sesshomaru turned to face us._

"_We should stay in a inn tonight." He declared. Jaken stared, dumfounded._

"_Lord Sesshomaru, we've barely traveled." I explained, since Jaken was lost for words. "And you never stay in a inn."_

_He stared blankly at the two of us and answered with "I think it would be best for you to rest, and as long as we're near, you won't have a reason to use that new blade of yours." He explained. He turned to start walking again. "After all, you are a young woman."_

"_Young woman…" I repeated silently to myself. That had been the first time he had called her a woman. What she had argued earlier must have really gotten to him. Maybe that's why he was acting so strange, he was processing what she had said earlier. She had worried for nothing._

_Jaken still stood staring._

"_C'mon Jaken." I called, Sesshomaru and I many yards ahead of him. He snapped out of his trance and jogged after us._

"_Wait Milord!" He shouted, waving his stick in the air like a crazy old man._

_I giggled, just like I did years ago, happy to have made such an imprint on Sesshomaru._


	2. Murasaki

_A/N: One Review? C'mon people. We can do better than this! Please, I'm new at this. I am more than willing to eat your criticism like a pancake. _

"_Lord Sesshomaru, are you sure we should be staying in a inn? You are a demon after all. I'm quite sure you won't be allowed inside." I said. "I'm fine, I have plenty of rest. And besides, even if we had to stop, I'd be perfectly content with sleeping outside." I continued._

"_Are you sure Rin?" Jaken asked. I nodded. "Lord Sesshomaru." Jaken protested once we arrived at the Inn._

"_Enough Jaken. Wait here." He said, walking in to the inn._

"_What do you think he's doing?" I asked Jaken._

"_Isn't it obvious? He's getting a room for the two of you. He may be a demon, but he appears very human. I, on the other hand, will be forced to stay outside." I ignored his complaint._

"_A room. Like one? For the two of us?" I asked, gulping._

"_Yes Rin! Boy, are you slow!" He said._

_A few minutes later, Sesshomaru walked out and called for me. I ran up to him._

"_Jaken, circle the town for any suspicious behavior." He commanded. Jaken nodded but I could tell he was exhausted. Poor Jaken._

_With that, we went into the inn and settled into our room._

_My heart was beating hard and fast as we sat in silence. This was the first time since I could remember that Sesshomaru had stayed in an inn. And we were alone, together. No Jaken to interrupt anything. But what am I thinking? Sesshomaru and I, being together? How ridiculous._

"_Uh…" I said, to break the silence._

_He looked up at me, but said nothing._

"_I'm going to…" I paused "Take a bath. Is that alright?" I asked. He just nodded._

_I quickly got up and grabbed a robe that they provided us with, and some of the soaps, and when to the bathing house._

_Since it was so late, I was the only one in there, which was nice. I enjoyed the alone time. It gave me time to think things out, which I really needed._

_As I washed myself, I thought about Sesshomaru. I was still trying to figure out why he insisted on staying in and inn. Maybe I should ask him…._

_After washing up, I was curious, so I decided to go to the hot spring they provided at the inn. _

_The outdoor one was nicer, so I went there. When I walked in, I was startled by a small female fox, sitting at the water's edge, dipping it's paws into the warm water. I stared as it would dip a paw in, and rub behind it's ears as if it were bathing itself. It finally noticed me and stared back with violet eyes._

"_Hello little fox." I said. It's ears perked. It just stared not moving, so I decided to approach it. I started walking towards it, slowly, to not startle it. Once I was only a couple feet from it, I knelt down._

"_Come here little fox, I won't hurt you." I said, motioning for it to come to me. Surprisingly, it obeyed and cam to me. I let it sniff my hand before I pat it on the head._

"_You seem used to humans. Is it possible that you are a fox demon?' I asked. I knew she couldn't answer in words, but she looked up at me with her eyes and blinked twice, which I believed that indicated a yes._

"_Hm. Well, by the looks of it, you're also a small part human as well. Do you have a home?" I asked her. She looked down, sadness sweeping over her. Poor thing, I thought. Well, she won't be alone anymore._

_I then made a decision, and picked her up and took her inside. She didn't squirm or object to my decision at all. To hide her from any of the employees, I hid her in my towel, and put on my robe. When I walked out of the bath house with the bundle in my arms, the woman at the desk paid no attention whatsoever._

_When I arrived to the door I stopped. What will Sesshomaru think? I asked myself. I sighed. I guess I'll find out._

_When I walked into the room, I found Sesshomaru sitting on the floor cross-legged, and back faced away. I knew he heard me come in, but he didn't turn around. I came up behind him and touched him on the shoulder._

"_Lord Sesshomaru?" He growled at the contact I made._

"_I'm sorry! You're upset with me after all! My deepest apologies!" I ranted, sounding a lot like Jaken._

"_No Rin." He answered calmly. "That's not it." His voice showed know sign of anger, but it sounded pained by something._

_Pain….That's it! Sesshomaru injured himself!_

"_Lord Sesshomaru, remove your armor and hakama so I can see your shoulder please." I said, setting the fox bundle on the floor._

"_Rin, there is no need for that." He answered._

"_I know you've injured yourself in some sort of battle. I can't help you if you don't cooperate." I said in a chastising manner._

_He said nothing, but reluctantly began removing his armor and hakama, enough so I could see his shoulder._

_I gasped, not only at the deep gash in his shoulder, but at his beauty. He was perfectly toned in the upper body, his skin was pale, but that only made him harder to turn away from. I finally came back to reality and realized what I had to do._

"_Lord Sesshomaru, you mustn't keep these things from me. If you had waited any longer, it could've gotten infected." I said, shaking my head and going to my stuff. Jaken always told me not to carry too much luggage around, but I always kept a small bag which I kept my money and some herbs just in case I ever injured myself._

"_Rin, this isn't necessary. It'll be gone by morning." Sesshomaru told me._

_I rolled my eyes, though he couldn't tell because I was facing away. "Yes, I know, you're a demon so you heal incredibly fast. But I would at least like to help lower the pain. It must hurt a lot." I said, pulling out some herbs that relieved pain._

_When I walked over to tend to his wounds, he didn't protest. I started by cleaning the blood from the wound, the rubbing the herbs into the gash. Then, I finished by wrapping it up._

"_There, that should do it!" I said, pleased with myself._

"_Thank you." He said. "Now, what was it you were trying to say before?" He asked, which made me realize, that the fox was still wrapped in my towel._

"_Oh my! That's right, I almost forgot!" I quickly got up off the floor and grabbed the bundle. "I found her by the bath house." I said, unwrapping the small fox from the bundle._

_Sesshomaru gave me a puzzled look. "And what exactly were you planning on doing with that?" He asked._

"_It's not a 'that', it's a __**her. **__And I was thinking of maybe….keeping her." I said, my voice getting timid._

_He gave me a hard stare. Jaken was usually the one scolding me, because the truth was, Sesshomaru couldn't. He had no self control, believe it or not. When it came to me, he could never say no._

"_When you and Jaken go off on your own fighting demons, I'm quite lonely. I thought it would be nice to have a pet….sorta." I said, looking at him, waiting for a reply._

"_Sort of?" He asked, returning the puzzled look._

_I gave him a crooked smile "Well, she's part demon….and part human…" I told him._

"_Well, how can you be sure?" He asked. It was strange to have a conversation with Sesshomaru, which is one of the reasons I was worried about staying alone in an inn with him._

"_I asked her. She understands me, so she must be part human. But that's besides the point. The only reason I brought her to you, is because I want permission to keep her." I said. I looked at him intently, awaiting his answer._

_He closed his eyes and turned away, sighing. "She's completely your responsibility, under no circumstances." He stated simply._

_I smiled wide. "Thank you Lord Sesshomaru." I said, cuddling the fox to me. "Her name will be Murasaki." I said, sighing contently._

_After I got settled and ready for bed, I looked to Sesshomaru, to see he was already asleep, leaning up against the wall in the corner._

"_Goodnight Sesshomaru…" I whispered, snuggling Murasaki close, and drifting off to sleep._

_**Hello and thank you for reading my chapter. I know, I updated quickly, but please don't get used to it XD I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, and please review! -Abby**_


	3. Quick Authors Note Sorry

**Hey Everyone! Sorry about exciting you, but this isn't a new chapter. Though I do have Chapter 3 done already, I'm waiting until I get more reviews just in case I need to change anything.**

**I have a question for everyone!**

**Should I try writing the next chapters in third person?**

**I don't know, it's a thought. I was thinking I'd be able to write in more detail that way if it was in a narrators POV. Review this chapter with your opinion.**

**If I get more "yays" than "nays" on this idea, then I'll start writing Chapter 4 (or chapter 5 in this case) in third person. But I can't start writing 'til you review! So get going =3**

**-Abby**


	4. Kohaku

A/N: I'm a little on the impatient side, so I started writing this right after I posted the second chapter. The next chapter will probably end up being in third person, just to try it. If I like the way it sounds and I get good reviews on it then I'll probably keep it. But if it sucks I'll switch back/rewrite the entire chapter in first person (which is a bitch to do, but it's all for you J)

"What do you think Jaken?" I asked, holding Murasaki towards him.

"She looks….nice." He said awkwardly. I laughed at him. "Hey now! What's so funny!" He shouted, which made me laugh more.

I turned Murasaki so she was facing me "I think you look beautiful Mura-Chan." I told her, adjusting the yellow bow I just bought that was around her neck.

"Come on Rin, we've stopped at the village shops and we finally found what you wanted, now let's go." Jaken said.

I ignored Jaken, looked to see that Sesshomaru already started leaving, seeing that I was done with my shopping. I didn't understand why he was so impatient. He's a demon after all, so he has an extended life, unlike me. I'm paying for what I buy with my own money, so I don't understand why the two of them can't just wait a small amount of time for me to go shopping.

I ran after Sesshomaru, not caring that Jaken was many yards back. I walked beside him, silent. We had already taken care of the demons that were terrorizing the villagers at the village we were just staying at, so we just started wandering after that. We really have no plan, since Naraku has been destroyed and the shikon jewel was taken care of. Which got me thinking, what happened to Inuyasha's group? They must have settled down somewhere. From what I recall, everyone had future plans. The monk and demon slayer were engaged to marry, and Inuyasha and Kagome….well I'm pretty sure they had similar plans. Then there was the fox demon. I wonder how he's doing. He was a bit of a fifth wheel, similar to Jaken. And I also wonder, why hasn't Sesshomaru settled down with anyone? I mean, he's a full bred demon, which means if he finds a female demon, he could mate and start a family. But then again, Sesshomaru doesn't seem like the family type, and there aren't any women that I could tell he had taken an interest to. How unusual…

"Rin." Sesshomaru interrupted.

"Yes Lord Sesshomaru?"

"Stand back. There's a demon approaching." He told me.

I sighed. Of course. I retreated, as usual, and hid behind Sesshomaru and Jaken. Though I was sure they'd be enough to protect me, I still had my hand by my hip, ready to pull out my blade in case the demon got near me.

"Show yourself!" Jaken shouted, attempting to sound intimidating, though his croaking voice was not much to be afraid of. Sesshomaru stayed silent, showing now fear, as the demon appeared.

"Well if it isn't the Great Lord Sesshomaru…" Said the demon, smiling a wickedly dangerous smile. The demon wasn't terribly large. He was maybe half a foot taller than Sesshomaru, and covered in fur pelts like some sort of barbarian. He carried a weapon half his height. It was a large jagged blade, though it seemed to not have any special abilities like the Tensaiga, it still seemed dangerous. I always learned to not underestimate my opponents. Or rather, Sesshomaru's.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Sesshomaru requested, calm and collected. While Jaken, on the other hand, was jumping up and down, cursing at the demon for disrespecting Sesshomaru.

"If I told you what I wanted, that would ruin the fun of this now wouldn't it?" The demon said with a chuckle. But Sesshomaru obviously did not find it funny. He was never one to engage in combat. If someone wanted to fight, they would come after him. So instead of attacking, he waited. The demon got impatient, growled, and came after him with his huge weapon. Sesshomaru braced himself with his Tokijin, standing in a defensive stance. I watched intently as their blades clanked. I watched as the battle was actually quite close, though Sesshomaru wasn't even using his full power. This demon was obviously no match.

I held Murasaki tight as we watched. Jaken had no need to fight since Sesshomaru was handling it well, so instead he stood a few feet in front of me to defend me. But both of them forgot that my back was open, and I was grabbed.

Usually I would've screamed, but the kidnapper was obviously prepared for that, and had my mouth tied in a matter of seconds. I squirmed as the man tied my wrists and ankles together, and thrusted me over his shoulder. Luckily, I had a good enough hold on Murasaki, so she was with me the entire time. I tried to squirm free as much as I could, but a sharp punch in my gut stopped me. Tears started spilling out over my cheeks.

"Sesshomaru…." I said with a sigh, though it was muffled by the cloth tied over my mouth, so to the man, It was inaudible.

I wasn't quite sure why I was being kidnapped, but it wasn't the first time it had happened. It happened once when I was very young, but now I'm a woman. Usually I'm used to lure Sesshomaru somewhere, though there's really no reason because he defeats them in a pinch, I still feel guilty because it causes him so much trouble…

The man brought me to a normal house. He opened the door with a key, then locked it behind us. After locking the door, he locked the key in a box with a combination. I just watched him silently (obviously, because I couldn't talk).

Then, he walked over to me, and removes the ties around my mouth.

"I'm sorry." He said sincerely. It was the first time he spoken, and his voice was not as rough as I had expected it to be. And for some reason I recognized him…

"I'm so sorry Rin, I really didn't want to do this, but I had to…" He said, looking down.

"H-how do you know my name? Who…..are you?" I asked.

He looked up at me, surprised. "Oh! It's been eight years, of course you don't remember me. I'm Kohaku…"

"Kohaku! What are you…I didn't even know you were alive. The shikon jewel was already taken care of, how is it that-"

"Kikyo. She helped me, of course, not alone. With her Shikigami. I'm alive the same way she is." He explained.

I just looked at him, still holding Murasaki in my arms.

"But why are you still doing things like these? Naraku is long gone."

He looked down again, obviously ashamed. "I wish I knew why too. But they're orders. From…Hakudoshi." My eyes widened at the name.

"Hakudoshi? He should be dead along with Naraku! What's going on Kohaku?" I asked, overwhelmed by all the new information.

"Well, there were two halves to Hakudoshi. There was Naraku's heart half, the infant, then there was the other half. In order to destroy Naraku, the heart half had to be destroyed as well. But for some reason, the other Hakudoshi is still living. Nobody has figured out how. His plans are to recreate the shikon jewel for ultimate power."

**Dun dun duuun! Well, that's it for this chapter. Keep checking back for my next chapter, third person! Eeeep! Later. -Abby**


End file.
